2 Weeks

Two weeks from today I'll be having dinner and drinks in Mexico! The forecast for the next week is in the 80's......with chances of rain everyday, figures! Anywho. :)

Yesterday was my Friday 10-7 shift. Twice a month isn't that bad and I actually get a lot done more after 5 pm once everyone else leaves so it was kind of nice. Once I was done I had to swing out to the Jordan Creek Wal-Mart to help a friend, so I decided to swing into Costco and pick up the pictures I had ordered the night before. Worked out perfectly, I got Piper's pictures Tuesday, got my family orders and got them Friday. One thing crossed off my list!
Then I decided to go to Toys R Us to do some more Christmas shopping. I think I might actually have Piper done! We are almost done with Presley and Boston, Steve and my mom are done. And I think I might order my own Christmas present in the next couple days. So the Christmas shopping is probably 75% done with! Woohoo! Hoping to get the rest done in the next two weeks so I don't have to think about it!

Today we didn't do much, some playing, inside and outside since it was so nice out! We got our new mattresses, Steve has been complaining about his back hurting and we have had our mattresses for close to 10 yrs so we broke down and got new ones. We'll see how we like them tonight (our salesman, who used to be our bartender at Drink said we'll have to spend a lot of time 'breaking it in'.....Steve thinks he is getting lucky, I think the kids are going to get to jump on the bed a lot in the next couple weeks! LOL!)

Presley woke up this morning and said her head hurt. She got the cough that Piper had last week so I gave her some Tylenol and the day went on as normal. So an hour before another birthday party tonight, P said her head hurt again, I took her temp and it was 100 degrees. She still wanted to go to the party, I gave her more Tylenol and off we went. I'm a bad mom. So hopefully none of the other kids get sick from her! :(
The birthday party was a Backyard Adventures, it was pretty cool. It is basically a showroom for outdoor playsets and it is open for free play and birthday parties. So they spent hours running up stairs and rock walls and down slides and swinging on swings and Presley had a blast! It's also nice for us to get to know the parents! Most of these parents (and kids) have been together for years, so we are the 'outsiders'!

So I have been paying more on our mortgage every month so that when our taxes are reassessed on our house (not just the land) that the payment increase won't be TOO much of a shock to our bank account and monthly budget. Well you know that? That kind of backfired b/c today I got our payment adjustment. Now our payment is going down and I got a $1400 check for our overpayment! I really should just take the check and pay it back to our escrow account but heck with Mexico, new mattresses and Christmas coming up, this might have worked out ok after all!

Friday is almost here!

I had Monday off for Veteran's Day, usually I try to get most of my Christmas shopping done this day but this year I had Miss Piper with me. Shopping with a 13 month old who doesn't like to sit still ending with me hardly buying anything, getting frustrated, trying to keep her from climbing out of the cart and her eating a lot of crackers to keep her occupied. UGH! I HATE Christmas shopping after Thanksgiving especially if it is on the weekends, so I try very hard to get most of it done before then. Hopefully I can get some more done in the next couple weekends (or my other weekdays off!).

Tuesday Presley had cheer, she wanted me to take her. I was excited b/c she had 2 good weeks of cheer.....for some reason this class was different. We left early b/c she spent 80% of the class walking over to me crying. Her legs were tired, her knee hurt, she lost her place in line (yeah, b/c you were over complaining to me!), she didn't have a spot during their routine (yeah, b/c you were crying next to me!). It was terrible. We got in the car and were both crying. We have two more classes this month, if the next two don't go good, we are done. It's no fun and not worth it if she doesn't like it or have fun!

Steve has started his concrete countertop for his bar downstairs. Pictures to come when we have the finished product!

Miss Piper is still my sweet baby.....though she is becoming ornery! She is reminding me a lot of Presley, which is a little scary for me. She still has no fear, she is always on the move, she loves to play with Presley and jump on her bed, she eats like an animal and is cutting MORE teeth! We tried shoes for the first time today, well the first time that she kept them on for more than 5 minutes! She is clumsy enough as it is, these shoes add an extra layer of accidents waiting to happen!

Is it common in daycare centers for everyone to invite all the kids to every birthday parties? Goodness, it is going to be too expensive to keep up with 25 kids birthdays'! She's had 2 (we missed one b/c she didn't want to go), we have one this Saturday and we have a double party on the 8th! I love the social aspect of it but these kids really don't need the toys and crap they are getting from these parties! Any good ideas for gifts instead of getting all these kids a $10 present that they'll like for 5 seconds?

I have so many things in my head of stuff I need to get done and things I can't forget. I have lists all over the place. I take them every where, I add to them every day. Things for tomorrow, things for Christmas, planning for events in February, March and April! I can't think 6 months ahead but I am and it is driving me crazy!

Piper's 1 year pictures (one month late)

We had a rough photo session, but I think we actually got a couple good pictures!

Pink

 

So like everyone else in the greater Des Moines metro area we had tickets to the P!nk concert for Friday night. My mom had agreed to watch the girls for us (back in March when we got the tickets)(THANK YOU MOM!) so we made plans to meet some people right after work at Buzzard Billy's which is only three blocks from the arena. Of course, it was packed. Over an hour wait at 4:30 on a Friday night but it all worked out, and that place is smart and organized for nights like this!

The concert was once again AMAZING! She is AMAZING! I LOVE HER! And if given the chance, I will see her again! Have I expressed my feelings enough here?

This is when she was flying around and landed on a pole right in front of us. AMAZING!



This morning we had our first accident with Miss Piper. As all newly walking kids she fell and jacked her face on the corner of a cabinet, bloody nose, bruised head. I have a feeling this won't be the last time with this kid!

I had plans to go see Ender's Game with my parents, Holly and Jerry. We had all read the book and loved it and I rarely see movies so I was excited. It was good, though I still recommend people read the book over seeing the movie! So good!

Then I went with Holly and Jerry to meet our friend Andrea for a couple drinks but she wasn't able to show up by the time I had to leave to head home b/c Presley had a birthday party for a boy in her class. She was hesitant to go b/c he must have mentioned something about 'having girls' at his party, but we knew she would have a blast! And she did!

Artsy Fartsy

Presley loves art, drawing, coloring......totally Steve's thing. I'll color, but there is no art or drawing in this mommy. This is a picture of the type of papers, coloring, drawings she brings home EVERY DAY! Every day we have at least 10 pieces of paper, some colored, some writing, we even get other kids papers or BLANK pieces of paper! Awesome huh? Well 98% of these papers goes in the trash, is that bad? I keep the good ones, the ACTUAL projects!

 

 





Kid stuff

- Piper is full of snot. The amount of snot coming out of this girls nose the last 3 days is crazy.  This morning she woke up with dried, green snot everywhere. Gross huh? Yeah, I'm sure you are happy that I shared that information with you.
- Presley has been so good recently. It's awesome. We have our moments, she will throw a fit here and there but overall we just enjoy her more now! LOL! She says 'what the heck?' and 'oh my goodness' which just makes her sound like a little teenager.
- Tonight Presley didn't want to sleep on the outside half of her bed b/c she was afraid she would fall out. But she didn't want to sleep near the all either b/c she said her blanket would fall (between the wall and bed). So she pouted, fell to the floor and stated that she would have to sleep on the floor! She was legitimately sad about it. Then the pout lip came out, tears filled her eyes and she looked at me and said that she was scared of the monsters under her bed! She seems really sad and scared. (though she has never been scared of monsters before and we coincidentally have been watching Monsters Inc recently). I felt so bad for her. We cuddled (in bed, not on the floor) and eventually she fell asleep. My baby girl.
- Piper knows where her belly and nose are. She can go downstairs. She knows socks go on her feet. She knows to push the stool in the bathroom near the bathtub so she is able to climb in.  This girl is no dummy that is for sure. My baby girl.
- This is the 2nd week Presley had done good in cheer class. I might become a cheer mom, forget soccer mom! It is freakin adorable. The main problem is that there are 5 classes that go on at the same time, in the same big room. Kids get distracted so easily by a girl getting thrown in the air, by the dance music, by kids doing flips on the trampoline, by the wheelchairs of the girls in the handicap class.....but P is learning, liking and participating! Eventually I will have a video to share!

Weekend Update

So another weekend with minimal plans. Perfect! Friday night Steve made dinner then we just hung out. Playing and laughing.

Saturday both girls slept in (8 for Piper and sometime before 9 for P). Presley had her first 'friend' birthday party for a girl at preschool. The Playground for Kids in Ankeny, full of bounce houses and fun! I took her and the first 20 minutes sucked. She cried. She didn't want to play and when she did she would come back to my crying b/c someone pushed her. The kids were running around and excited and she just wanted someone to play with. Its weird to watch your child want to be included but don't know how to help. Finally they went into a bigger room with more stuff to climb on, jump on and run around on. She finally friended Alivia from her class, thank goodness. They ran around with each other, chased each other and just had fun.  And I got to meet Alivia's mom so that was nice to finally really meet and talk with one of the other parents!

Then they had pizza (and she ate a piece, she tells us she doesn't like pizza) and cake (she didn't want the frosting and normally that is the only part she eats?!) So overall this party was a success!

The rest of the day we hung out, Piper took a late nap, we played in the basement (well, P played and I napped) Steve cleaned the cars, we did laundry, took a walk, cleaned. Productive, family day!

 

You never know what is going to happen with daylight savings and kids. Well both kids slept until 7:45 (which would've been 8:45). However, Miss Piper woke up with a super runny nose and just whiny. She has been hoarse with a little cough for a couple days and we are pretty sure she is getting some molars and I think it all caught up with her today. Poor thing!

We got some time outside even though it was windy, both of our girls just LOVE being outdoors!

We did a Costco run, P got her hair cut, ran to Target, played more, made dinner, did baths and Piper was asleep by 7 and Presley by 7:30! WOOHOO! (Either I love this daylight savings time thing, or they will be waking up very early tomorrow morning!)